


darlin' don't you join in, you're supposed to drag me away from it

by RadioFreeHayden



Category: The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Wadsworth sucks and Sam's understandably upset about it, tier 5 babey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23421733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadioFreeHayden/pseuds/RadioFreeHayden
Summary: For all Dr. Bright’s paranoia, Sam is surprised she never came up with a contingency plan for this exact situation.The AM gets involved in Sam and Joan's plan to get Mark back to the present.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: Happy Birthday Sam





	darlin' don't you join in, you're supposed to drag me away from it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [write_away](https://archiveofourown.org/users/write_away/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Sam! What better way to celebrate than with your favorite activity, throwing characters into Tier 5?
> 
> I love you, you're great, thanks for being fucking awesome <3
> 
> (Title from "Sedated" by Hozier)

This wasn’t the plan. It wasn’t ever going to be easy or simple, but getting the AM directly involved was never supposed to be what complicated it. For all Dr. Bright’s paranoia, Sam is surprised she never came up with a contingency plan for this exact situation. 

As it stands, all Sam has to go on is, “Don’t trust Ellie, but do what you need to to get Mark back to the present.” Not exactly the most encouraging thing to hear, but Sam’s sticking with it.

She’s going to get Mark back. The rest of the plan might have gone horribly sideways, but her piece remains the same. She knows how to make the jump; she’s going to get him back; she isn’t going to fuck up the only thing her ability has ever been good for. 

At least Damien isn’t involved anymore. Although, well—the devil you know, right? But Sam doesn’t really know Wadsworth or Damien, and Dr. Bright seems far better acquainted with both of them than she’d prefer. 

It doesn’t matter. She needs to focus. She looks up at Wadsworth. “I’m ready.”

The jump goes . . . okay. She lands in 1810, at any rate. A bit shakily, but solidly enough to find Mark and give him a rushed explanation of the plan, rambling so hard she’s not even sure what she’s saying anymore. Mark reminds her at least 3 times to slow down; it never quite takes. 

But they get to the lake, and under the water, his hand in hers feels solid. They jump. 

She knew, obviously, that even though they jumped back to the same time, they wouldn’t be in the same place once they got back. But when the weight of his hand disappears and she’s left blinking in front of Wadsworth, it feels so wrong she wants to scream. 

She can’t see much, but she can hear voices from the room next to her—the cell next to her, really—and someone calls, “he’s awake!”

Sam is relieved, but in a way that feels emptier than it should. She looks to Wadsworth again. “You’re going to let him go, right?”

She doesn’t have to hear the words to know the answer. “You can’t expect me to immediately release a man in an unstable condition. We’re uniquely equipped to help him recover.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s your priority,” Sam bites.

“I’m only being practical, Samantha. The man was in a coma for two years.”

“Because of what you did to him!”

“Accidents happen, especially when dealing with dangerous Atypicals,” Wadsworth says. “Don’t tell me you’ve never made a mistake with your ability? What happened here was no different.”

Wadsworth doesn’t know about that, or she _shouldn’t_ anyway, but it hits Sam like a punch to the gut. She’s too angry to speak, too scared and guilty to want to. Of course, _of course_ it wasn’t going to go right, of course she messed everything up again, pulled him out of the pot straight into the _fucking_ fire—

Wadsworth’s condescending smile grows larger, and with it, the sinking feeling in Sam’s stomach, the tightness in her chest. Everything is too much and not enough, and she ruined everything again, and she can’t be stuck here, she _can’t_ —

And then she isn’t. Instead of glass walls and Wadsworth’s smile, she’s facing an open meadow, nothing but grass and moonlight to keep her company. It’s the same meadow she’s met Mark in countless times, but she’s alone now. Out of habit, her eyes wander up to the night sky, and she’s reminded of Mark making up constellations, of the way his eyes lit up when he made her laugh.

The stars mean nothing to her when he’s not by her side.


End file.
